Savills acquires Eastdil Secured for €1.0b

Global real estate advisory firm Savills has acquired real estate investment bank Eastdil Secured for $1.11 bn (€1.03 bn).

Simon Shaw and D. Michael Von Konynenburg

This acquisition, pending regulatory approvals, will create the world's second-largest advisory firm for prime commercial real estate transactions over $100 mln.

Eastdil Secured, founded in 1967 by Benjamin V. Lambert, pioneered an investment banking approach to real estate. After being acquired by Wells Fargo in 1999 and merging with Secured Capital Corp in 2006, it solidified its position as a global leader. In 2019, CEO Roy H. March led a recapitalisation with Guggenheim, Temasek, and Wells Fargo.

Eastdil Secured provides expert advice on M&A, joint ventures, sales, debt placement, and structured credit to investors worldwide, operating from 20 offices across the US, Europe, and Asia.

This acquisition is highly complementary to Savills' existing services, enabling the combined entity to offer a full spectrum of advisory, transactional, consulting, and management services across the entire real estate ownership lifecycle. Eastdil Secured will continue to operate as Savills Group's Real Estate Investment Bank, maintaining its headquarters in New York, Santa Monica, and London. Its senior employees will become Savills shareholders.

In conjunction with the acquisition, Eastdil Secured has announced executive leadership changes: Roy H. March will become executive chairman, D. Michael Van Konynenburg will take over as CEO, and James McCaffrey will become president, focusing on international growth from London. Both Van Konynenburg and McCaffrey will join the Savills Group Executive Board.

This deal represents one of Savills' largest acquisitions, establishing a global capital markets powerhouse with significantly expanded geographical coverage, particularly in the US. The two companies share a strong client-focused and performance-driven culture, creating enhanced growth opportunities for clients, staff, and shareholders due to their complementary strengths and minimal overlap.

Simon Shaw, Group chief executive of Savills, said: “Eastdil Secured is an organisation we have worked with and admired for many years. It has a complementary geographical footprint and a similar culture to our own. This acquisition is a significant step forward for both of us, bringing to the global investment community a much-needed choice of leading advisory partner to deliver a comprehensive suite of investment banking, strategic, financial, development, leasing and other “boots on the ground” property solutions.”

Roy H. March, executive chairman of Elevate, added:  “This transaction marks the beginning of a new chapter for Eastdil Secured, which will accelerate our growth, create opportunities for our team, and significantly enhance our ability to provide best-in-class real estate investment banking services for our valued clients globally. As part of Savills, Eastdil Secured will continue to serve as a trusted advisor and provide clients with unmatched capital markets and commercial real estate expertise, now with more resources as part of a larger organisation with complementary geographic reach and advisory capabilities.”